Leger launches one-off battlefield tour

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30 May 2012

Leger Holidays has launched a one-off, exclusive tour which offers travellers access to a series of underground tunnels from the First World War for the first time.

The British Tunnelling Campaign of the Great War remained an official secret until 1962, when it was revealed that British and French soldiers carved tunnels to lay explosives which could damage the German defences above. It was dangerous work, both from the risk of collapse and explosions, but also because the Germans had their own series of tunnels, leading to fierce battles fought 100-feet below the surface of the ground.

On the company's ‘Underground War’ tour, which departs on September 21, passengers will have the opportunity to walk through tunnels below the battlefields of The Somme which are being reopened for the first time in almost a century and are currently closed to the general public. Guests will also have the opportunity to meet the people involved in the excavation of the lost labyrinth of tunnels running below the village of La Boisselle, and will be able to take a one-off guided tour through the tunnels, giving them the opportunity to discover firsthand more about their purpose and the lives of those who served in them. Prices lead in at £259 per person including three nights’ breakfast accommodation, travel by executive coach; free local joining points; a specialist battlefield guide; and all battlefield visits and excursions.